Follow Us

ARE YOU AN

INSIDER

Haim's Makeup Artist Explains the Key to Pulling Off a Cali-Girl Makeup Look

by
Trish Bendix

PHOTO:

Courtesy of Haim

Los Angeles–based makeup artist Gloria Noto has worked on the likes of Olivia Wilde, Milla Jovovich, and Shailene Woodley, but her most consistent gig is with California It girls Haim, who she first worked with for an ASOS Magazine cover spread in 2012. The sisters Haim (Danielle, Alana, and Este) are known for their effortless cool—minimal, natural, yet rock ’n roll. Just like their music, their style is infused with '70s ladies-of-the-canyon vibes—long hair that appears to be brightened only by the sun with matching bold brows and earth tones flattering their faces.

"I just got their vibe," Noto said. "They didn't want somebody to change their identity. They're very sort of like low-maintenance rock 'n' roll edgy but California girls. And I think I got their vibe because I’m good at doing an edgy but lightweight sort of thing. So it just stuck!"

Most recently, Haim hired Noto for their appearances on Saturday Night Live and The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, as well as their music videos, album cover, and artwork for their 2017 critically acclaimed LP Something to Tell You. For every appearance, Noto maintains the same aesthetic for the individual women, but with some inspired tweaks.

"Sometimes it depends on what they're wearing," she said. “Let's say it's Saturday Night Live and they're wearing tight sequined bodysuits. I might change it up a little bit for that. But overall, they kind of love this sort of tone on their eye, and it's usually within a brown-orange-coppery world. I kind of just play around with that."

But it all starts with the skincare. Watching any live appearance or music video will show you just how enviable the sisters' completions are—and Noto recommends a product she makes through her own Noto Botanics.

"It's pretty essential because in order to make your makeup look good, you have to use quality skincare that is right for you,” Noto said. “Doing that means taking care of your skin, so using a product like my serum is why. It’s gonna heal the skin and calm the skin, and since it’s more emollient, it will allow you to put makeup on the skin easier."

After you've made sure to put the effort into keeping skin clear, Noto recommends applying a lightweight tinted moisturizer.

"You don’t want to look too washed out, so make sure your skin looks even," she said. "Maybe add a little bit of contour to add a little tone and color on the skin. Get neutral tones—I use camel colors like gray-browns and also oranges—peach orange to red orange."

"Start out with your most neutral color first and build up into tapping a little bit of orange on top or tapping a little bit of red on top, and building up to whatever color you want,” she said. "[For] Alana's eyes, I'll usually make red or super orange. She's a little bit more playful in that. Este I usually do the lightest on the eyes. … Danielle is usually a diffused kind of camel tone on her eyes with minimal contouring and she doesn't really like much of a highlight—she likes it really her."

"You're creating a hallowed-out, rock 'n' roll, you’ve been up all night and you look maybe a little tired, but you still look cool because you’ve done something really fun sort of thing," Noto said. "I usually go in a bit of a circular motion almost hallowing out the eye, if you will, following the eye socket and covering the entire eyelid. And using a brush that’s maybe a little bit more narrow but still soft to line or blend out the bottom lash line. So it’s a complete circle in a sense—you don’t go as far down on the bottom as you might go on the lid. Always, always brush the eyebrow into the shape you want it to be and layer on some mascara."

Noto said that she rarely uses lip color on the women, opting for lip conditioner instead.

"Sometimes Este wants a red lip," Noto said. "I’ll use my stain because it’s a red-orange tone, or sometimes on Alana’s eyes, I’ll add a little bit of that on top of what we’re already doing to deepen it a little bit."

Besides her own line of natural products, Noto also employs other clean cosmetics brands on the women. She likes clean cosmetics like Tarte (“[The brand] makes really good colors, and it’s paraben-free and mostly natural and has a good payoff”), Hourglass (“I love to use its concealer and its contour palette because the colors are really interesting—they have yellow in them if you have more yellow skin and also I just love that brand!”), and Vapour, which has multi-use stains and palettes in the same color family Noto likes to use on Alana, Este, and Danielle.

Once you have the face down, pair with the band’s "really effortless wispy flyaway kind of cool hair," Noto said, "throw on a vintage T-shirt and you’re done!"